History Recap / CommunityS4E12HeroicOrigins

* ContinuitySnarl: Troy's injury is a big one. In the Pilot, Annie says that he dislocated his shoulders doing a keg flip & he reveals in [[Recap/CommunityS1E06FootballFeminismAndYou "Football, Feminism and You"]] that he did so on purpose out of fear of failure. In this episode, he ''pretends'' to have broken his leg. [[FridgeBrilliance Then again, Annie]] ''[[FridgeBrilliance was]]'' [[FridgeBrilliance on drugs at the time...]]

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Shirley accuses Jeff of breaking up her marriage by saving the stripper. Jeff admits she might have a point since he did encourage Misty to pursue a married man, but he also says Andre made the choice to cheat on his wife.

** Abed knew that Jeff and Shirley went to the same rec centre, but he wasn't aware of the [[Recap/CommunityS3E09FoosballAndNocturnalVigilantism "Tinkle Town" incident]]. He may have been distracted by his broken DVD.

** The comicbook-style page flips as a flashback starts to show several scenes from previous episodes.

* HeelFaceTurn: Chang, after Abed offers him entry into the group and frozen yoghurt.
* HonoraryTrueCompanion: Abed realizes Chang was part of the group all along, as it was him who handed out fliers for Greendale at the frozen yoghurt place.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Misty gets acquitted of tax fraud, celebrates with Jeff and hits on a married man...and Shirley then smashes her face into a jukebox, ensuring she probably won't be able to find work again unless she gets surgery.

** Shirley ruined Jeff's life when he was a kid by humiliating him at foosball. Jeff accidentally ruined her life by clearing Misty's name in court and encouraging her to pursue a married man. She and Jeff lampshade it angrily.

** Parodied. Abed thinks that he's doing people a favour by warning them about The Phantom Menace being rereleased. After Shirley chews out the movie theatre, management issues a restraining order about it.

* TookALevelInKindness: The group overall is kinder than they were before they came to Greendale. Annie was a self-absorbed drug addict, Troy was mean to others for kicks, Abed's NoSocialSkills get him a restraining order, Shirley was violent enough to push Misty's face into a jukebox, and Jeff was an unethical lawyer.

** Shirley calls out Abed for bothering her kids at the movie theatre on her anniversary, and Jeff for getting Misty off scot-free.

* ActorAllusion: Troy being the one to say "and we're all Franchise/SpiderMan" is a nod to [[Music/ChildishGambino Donald Glover]]'s desire to play that role himself.

** ''Franchise/SpiderMan''

* AmbiguousDisorder
-->'''Britta:''' Is that a sad face?
-->'''Abed:''' [[Recap/CommunityS4E08HerstoryOfDance I wouldn't know.]]

->''"You see, on the surface we seem like [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits a group of people from diverse backgrounds]] [[OddFriendship who have become unlikely friends]], but according to my research, [[YouAllShareMyStory our paths have crossed many times]]. We were destined to meet, like a team of superheroes. This... is our {{origin story}}."''

For the group's graduation present, Abed maps out a Crazy Quilt of Destiny using collected ticket stubs and old receipts, to reveal that the study group's paths have all crossed each other's in everyone's OriginStory. We find out about Jeff's disbarring, the breakup of Shirley's marriage, Troy's lost football scholarship, Annie's breakdown and pill addiction, Britta's short-lived career as an anarchist and Abed's banishment from film school and how it all lead them to each other... and Greendale.

* TheCameo: Magnitude is briefly seen at Troy's high school party, where he witnesses Annie running through a glass door and two balloons popping next to him. And so, the birth of a legendary CatchPhrase was born.

* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Abed goes to great lengths to discover their interconnections, convinced they must have a shared OriginStory. At first, everyone thinks he's being crazy, but the coincidences start piling up until it's revealed they were all in the same place when they first decided to study at Greendale. Even before that, everyone (with the exception of Pierce) had their lives affected in some way by another member of the study group.

* ShipTease:
** Troy to Abed: "You were out there somewhere and you ''weren't looking for me?!''"
** And also a small one for Jeff/Annie. Jeff is seen smiling up at the pictures of Annie that she's been awarded for "Citizen of the Month" in 2008. Considering how prominent Jeff/Annie has become as the series has gone on, it might count as a sort of unintentional {{Foreshadowing}}. Especially since the show was envisioned with ''Britta'' being FirstGirlWins, but after [[spoiler: the S5 finale, this is now completely sunk with Jeff's revelation that his love for ''Annie'' was strong enough to open the door.]]